2006 WSOP finisher forfeits his millions in plea agreement
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2006 6th place World Series of Poker winner Richard Lee, of San Antonio, Texas, has been in legal limbo since shortly after his high-profile win when his house was raided in an investigation of illegal bookmaking. He was charged earlier this month, and has now reached a bargain with authorities.
The felony bookmaking charge was dropped, and Lee plead no contest to the misdemeanor count of keeping a place for gambling. In exchange, Lee and the other three men charged will serve only 30 days of unsupervised probation and will forfeit 80 percent of the assets seized in last year’s raid.
The $2.5 million thus forfeited, of which $2.2 million is Lee’s and the majority of his WSOP poker winnings, will be split between the San Antonio Police Department and the District Attorney’s office, where it must be used for law enforcement purposes. Lee will still be responsible for paying taxes on his winnings, according to First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg, who said, “I’m sure Mr. Lee is going to have plenty of tax problems.”
It might be going to far to say that the diehard San Antonio fan is pleased to have his money going to such purposes, but Lee seemed calm at the loss, remarking, “Now I need to go win another poker tournament.” He’ll get another chance at that as early as this weekend, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
